Given the great strain on the healthcare work force, the increased prevalence of many common diseases and the substantial delay in treatment caused by remote testing, it has become imperative to develop rapid, easy-to-use automated diagnostic devices and platforms to enable efficient and accurate point-of-care disease detection.
Historic obstacles to point-of-care devices include manufacturing challenges, ease-of-use limitations, and government regulations. Some of these obstacles have been reduced through advances in technology and recognition by governments and other regulatory bodies of the importance of point-of-care testing. However, important considerations, including ease-of-use and accuracy, still render point-of-care tests unsuitable for many healthcare facilities.
Conventional point-of-care diagnostic systems utilize capillary action or test strips, which provide limited ability to perform many diagnostic assays, such as fluidic assays.
Fluidic assays, such as enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assays (ELISAs), are capable of detecting the presence of many diseases ranging from cancer to diseases like herpes simplex type 2, and generally require relatively few operational steps. However, these steps are typically preformed by trained lab technicians.